There is a lot of talk these days about how kids should be interested in science. Here’s an area of science for everyone, and these cool new books might inspire you to discover your inner scientist.
Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled by Catherine Thimmesh, 58 pages, ages 9-12
Seeing a picture or a model of a dinosaur, do you wonder how anybody knows what they look like? After all, nobody has seen a living dinosaur. This book explains how scientists and artists work together to re-create dinosaurs. As scientific discoveries have been made, the models have changed. Scientific tests may one day expose what a dinosaur’s coloring was, but now artists have to use their imagination to determine how these huge creatures looked.
Beyond the Solar System by Mary Kay Carson, 128 pages, ages 10-13
This book takes readers back to the beginnings of space exploration—thousands of years ago, when people began star observation—and forward to today’s search for planets in distant parts of the Milky Way. Along with history lessons, readers get 21 activities, such as making a black hole and creating a model of Albert Einstein’s universe using a T-shirt. The activities are perfect for cold winter days.
Ultimate Bugopedia by Darlyne Murawski and Nancy Honovich, 272 pages, ages 7 and older
If you’re always on the lookout for butterflies, this book is for you. Hundreds of color photos of common and unusual insects fill this hardcover. There are fascinating stories related to the photos. For example, do you know an insect feeds on the tears of Asian cattle? There’s a question-and-answer section with an insect scientist and advice on how to help preserve endangered insects.
Journey Into the Invisible by Christine Schlitt, 80 pages, ages 9-12
If you use a magnifying(放大的)glass, you know a leaf looks quite different. This book explains what microscopes do and then shows what happens to things around the house when watched with this amazing scientific tool. The bacteria in your mouth, when magnified 20,000 times, look a bit like swimming pool noodles. Fascinating photos are paired with suggestions about how to learn about the world around you, just by looking a little closer.Kids interested in pre-historical animals might read ______.
A.Ultimate Bugopedia |
B.Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled |
C.Journey Into the Invisible |
D.Beyond the Solar System |
Beyond the Solar System is mainly about ______.
A.space exploration | B.the Milky Way |
C.history lessons | D.Albert Einstein’s universe |
The main purpose of the passage is to ______.
A.compare features of different books |
B.inspire people to become scientists |
C.teach children some knowledge of science |
D.recommend new science books to children |
A typical Chinese Internet user is a young male who prefers instant messaging to e-mail, seldom makes online purchases and favors news, music and games sites.According to a study, about two-thirds of survey participants use the Internet for news — often entertainment-related — or for online games.About half download music and movies.
They also tend to prefer instant messaging to e-mail, and they are depending on the Internet more frequently than before to communicate with others who have the same professions, hobbies and political interests.Online purchases still remain unpopular in China.Three-quarters of users surveyed have never bought anything over the Internet, and only 10 percent make purchases even once a month.Among those who do buy online, most pay for entertainment while others buy phone cards, or computer hardware or software.
“Many people don’t trust the quality of goods bought online,” Guo said Wednesday.“If they buy it in a store and don’t like it, they can easily bring it back.”
The survey was done in five major cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Changsha.Results do not necessarily project countrywide because Internet use in rural areas is lower than in cities.Guo describes the typical netizen in the five cities surveyed as young, male, richer and more highly educated.Males make up two-thirds of the Internet community, and more than 80 percent of users are under 24.Among people ages 25 to 29, 60 percent to 80 percent go online.
China has more than 100 million people online, second in the world to the United States.
1 A typical Chinese Internet user will be the one who ______.
A.likes to send e-mails B.likes to buy goods online
C.likes to pay for entertainment D.likes the games sites
2 Online purchases still remain unpopular in China mainly because ______.
A.it is more difficult for sales returns B.people haven’t computers
C.people can’t have a look at the goods D.goods bought online are of low quality
3 Which of the following words fails to describe the typical netizens in the five cities?
A.well educated B.richer C.female D.young
4 According to the text, which of the following shows the right relation between online people
and their ages?
A. B.
C. D.
第二部分:阅读理解(共 25小题;第一节每小题 2分,第二节每小题 1分;满分 45分)
第一节:阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C 和D)中选出最佳选项.
When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me.I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time.I know kids who have been shot or beaten up.I have friends who ended up in prison.I could have ended up that way, too, but Mr.Clark wouldn’t let that happen.
Mr.Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work.My grades rose.In fact, the scores of our whole class rose.One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem.Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full.We did not want to let him down.
Mr.Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year.He said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award.But when the time came to draw names, Mr.Clark said, “You’re all going.”
On graduation day, there were a lot of tears.We didn’t want his class to end.In 2001, he moved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch.He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55.In 2003, Mr.Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit the orphanages(孤儿院).It was the most amazing experience of my life.It’s now my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs, helping people from all backgrounds.
1.Without Mr.Clark, the writer.
A.might have been put into prison B.might not have won the prize
C.might have joined a women’s club D.might not have moved to Atlanta
2.The Essential 55 is.
A.a show B.a speech
C.a classroom rule D.a book
3.What can we learn in the short reading?
A.It was in Harlem that we saw The Phantom of the Opera for the first time.
B.Mr.Clark taught us not to talk with our mouths full, and we did.
C.Mr.Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year in Los Angeles.
D.In 2003, Mr.Clark moved to Atlanta, and he always kept in touch with us.
4.In the passage, the writer intends to tell us that.
A.Mr.Clark went to South Africa because he liked travelling
B.Mr.Clark helped to set up a group of women’s clubs
C.a good teacher can help raise his or her students’ scores
D.a good teacher has a good influence on his or her students
Electric cars will not be really much cleaner than autos powered by mineral fuels until they rely less on electricity produced from usual coal-fired power plants.
“For electric vehicles to become a major green alternative, the power fuel has to move away from
coal, or cleaner coal technologies have to be developed,” said Jared Cohon, the chairman of a National
Research Council report released on Monday. About half of US power is produced by
burning coal, which gives off many times more of traditional pollutants than natural gas, and about
twice as much of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Nuclear and renewable power have to
generate a larger portion of US power for electric cars to become much greener compared to
gasoline-powered cars, Cohan, who is president of Carnegie Mellon University, said in an interview.
Advances in coal burning, like capturing carbon at power plants for permanent burial underground,
could also help electric cars become a cleaner alternative to vehicles powered by fossil fuels, he said.
Pollution from energy sources did $120 billion worth of damage to human health, agriculture and
recreation in 2008, and electricity was responsible for more than half of the damage, said the NRC
report.
Electric cars have their benefits such as reducing imports of foreign oil. But they also have hidden
costs. Materials in electric car batteries are hard to produce, which adds to the energy it takes to make
them. In fact, the health and environmental costs of making electric cars can be 20 percent greater
than usual cars, the report said.
The report estimated that electric cars could still cost more than gas-powered cars to operate and
manufacture in 2030 unless US power production becomes cleaner.
1. Why are electric cars not clean enough?
A. Because they run too slowly B. Because they are too expensive
C. Because they rely on coal-fired power. D. Because they give off more carbon dioxide.
2. We can infer from the passage that ______.
A. electric cars will soon take the place of gas-powered cars
B. no one holds hope for electric cars at present
C. electric cars waste more energy than before
D. some people believe that electric cars are cleaner
3. The underlined word “them” refers to “______”.
A. electric cars B. batteries C. producers D. materials
4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to make electric cars cleaner?
A. Developing cleaner coal technologies. B. Making electric cars run faster.
C. Generating more unclear power. D. Making advances in coal burning.
Matches made over the Internet often do not last long because people end up choosing unsuitable
partners and forming emotional bonds before meeting face-to-face, an Australian university researcher
has found.
Women may especially find Mr. Wrong, as they tend to be attracted by fine comments or clever
emails, said psychologist Matthew Bambling from the Queensland University of Technology.
“You can never assume things are the way they seem online,” Bambling said. “The fact that they
can write a clever comment or a witty email doesn’t mean they will be Mr. Right, that’s for sure,” he
said, adding some men use the concept of “netting”, sending emails to dozens of women and hoping
one might respond. Bambling said you can find a partner online, but warned those using the Web to
find love to be aware of the traps. “There’s definitely an uncontrolled effect online,” he said, with
people more likely to exaggerate their good points while hiding anything negative. “Few guys for
example would say ‘look, I’m a middle aged alcoholic who’s been married five times, pick me’.
They’re going to present themselves as a good catch.” He said it was easy for people to quickly invest
too much emotionally in an online relationship because they don’t see the full picture of the person
they are emailing.
Bambling said people can avoid many of the problems by meeting early in the actual relationship,
rather than by getting to know each other only by email. He suggests couples arrange to meet over
coffee after a few emails, which will help people from building up a fantasy image of their match.
“The main thing to remember is to make real life contact as soon as possible if you are interested in
someone, because then you will know contact as soon as possible if you are interested in someone,
because then you will know if a relationship is a possibility.” He said.
1. Why were women quite likely to find Mr. Wrong over the Internet?
A. Because they often judge a person by his appearance.
B. Because single women usually felt more lonely.
C. Because the emotional bonds were hard to break.
D. Because they were easily attracted by fine comments.
2. About the online relationship Bambling suggests we should be ______.
A. rejective B. favorable C. cautious D. hopeful
3. The underlined word “exaggerate” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.
A. enlarge B. invent C. remove D. cover
4. What is suggested by Bambling for a better online relationship?
A. Writing clever comments or emails to girls frequently.
B. Finding a partner online through one night respond.
C. Making real life contact before further development.
D. Investing much emotion in your partner.
My daddy doesn’t know how to express love. It is my mum that makes everyone happy and calm in
our family; while Daddy only works day and night, never looking us in the face. But Mum makes a
wrongdoing list of us for Daddy scolding us. She was a spy!
Once, I stole a candy. Daddy asked me to put it back and told the shopkeeper I would like to carry
loads for her. Well, Mum told him I was jut a child.
I broke my leg on the playground. It’s still Mum that held me tightly in her warm arms. Daddy
drove us right to emergency room. He was asked to move the car away for that space was for
ambulance. Daddy got angry, “What do you think of it? A touring car?”
On my birthday party, it was, again, my mum that took over the cake for me. And my dad was busy
with blowing balloons and setting the table and doing the housework.
While looking over our album, my friends always ask, “What does your father look like?” God
knows. He photos others all the time. So there are many photos of my mum and me, pretty and lovely
photos.
And I still remembered the day when dad taught me riding. I asked him not to let his hands away,
but he did the opposite. And I certainly fell onto the ground. I got angry and decided to get on the bike
and rode. But he smiled again.
Mum wrote every letter to me while I was in college. He, except checks, did write a letter, but
extremely short, just a few words, saying, “Without your playing on the lawn, my son, my lawn grows
prettier than before.”
Every time I phoned, it seemed that he wanted to talk, but he would say, “I will get your mum.”
On the day of my wedding, Mum cried as if we would never meet again, while dad went out with a
nasal sound.
From very young, I heard him saying, “Where have you been?” “When do you go home?” “Did you
get oil for your car?” “…” Dad really knows nothing about showing love. Unless…
Maybe he showed while I didn’t notice.
1. From the first and second paragraphs, we can infer that ______.
A. it was the daddy that was in charge of his children’s education
B. the writer’s parents loved their children, at the same time, they were strict with them
C. the children were all afraid of their father so they had to be cute
D. the writer’s mom was like a spy who reported what the children did to the father
2. Why did the father get angry when he sent the writer to the hospital?
A. Because he parked his car at a wrong place.
B. Because the parking space of the ambulance was very crowded.
C. Because the writer’s injury made the father quite upset.
D. Because the person paid little attention to his son’s serious injury.
3. According to Paragraph Six, we know the father______.
A. was not patient when he taught the writer riding
B. might want to see his child fall off the bike
C. used a wrong way of teaching his child riding
D. might want his son to learn riding through independent practice
4. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The dad posted checks to the writer while he was in college.
B. The dad had no single photo of his own in the album.
C. The dad scolded the writer for having damaged the lawn.
D. The dad got excited when participating in the writer’s wedding.